1. Field of Invention
This invention is directed to apparatus and methods for counting bits contained within print data prior to a printer using the print data to form an image.
2. Description of Related Art
Currently, limited processor and memory bandwidths limit the usefulness of low-cost printers, which need to handle large amounts of data to create high quality images. For example, color images today are generally printed at 600 spi or greater. Accordingly, to reduce to the loads on both processing and memory resources, acquiring information about the image to be printed before printing occurs is useful.
For example, in thermal and ink jet printing, knowing where large areas of heavy ink coverage exist in an image prior to printing is extremely valuable. This information can be used to choose a print mode, a print speed, a drying time, or the like. Additionally, it may also be important to know where printing does not occur, so that a print head may skip the corresponding area, and thereby reduce loads on both processing and memory resources.